Thor (1995)
Thor was a Californian robot, and the runner-up of the 1995 Robot Wars UK Open Competition, held in London. There, it got to the final where it faced eventual champion The Master in a battle which was broadcast as part of the British Robot Wars, included in Heat D of Series 1, and the VHS release of Robot Wars: The First Great War. Design Thor was a four-wheel driven robot which featured a swinging arm with several spikes and teeth in the style of a hammer as its weapon, a cow-catcher like grille at the front protecting the front wheels that could steer the robot like a car and two wheels at the rear. The arm could also be fitted with a small wedge-shaped plate so that it could function as a flipper as well. Otherwise, Thor was a large four-wheel driven machine protected by structural steel. Its wheels were exposed at the sides, but were protected at the front because of Thor's broad flat surface. Robot History Series 1 Thor was one of three US Robot Wars competitors, along with The Master and La Machine, to be invited to compete in the 1995 UK Open Competition. It fought in numerous battles alongside its fellow American compatriots, as well as future Stock Robots Grunt and Eubank the Mouse, with considerable success. Various clips of these battles were shown in the First Great War video release, while Thor's battle with The Master was also televised as part of the first British series of Robot Wars. Thor initially made no aggressive movements, allowing The Master to turn and face Thor using its lifting panel, and bump into it, before continuing to circle around Thor. After a sustained period of hostility, The Master made the first move and drove up the surface of Thor, burying its circular saw through the armour of Thor, which could only flail its weapon at no target in defence. Thor started to start leak fluids following on from The Master's attack. After the Master withdrew its saw, it bumped into Thor using its left wheel. Thor retreated, and The Master held off until it found the right moment to charge in with its saw, shearing a loose piece of armour from the top of Thor. While Thor pushed back, The Master brought its saw onto the top of it, causing damage while shearing the circular saw in the process, creating a shower of dust. The Master continued to grind away in spite of the damage, cutting into the top of Thor's weapon, and briefly throwing sparks. The Master almost managed to drive up the side of the retreating Thor, but The Master brought what remained of its saw onto the front of Thor, creating a gash, before finally sacrificing the remainder of its saw to cut into a front wheel of Thor. These last attacks had immobilised Thor, and The Master won the battle, resigning Thor to second place in the competition. Results |} Outside Robot Wars Thor competed in the 1995 US Robot Wars heavyweight championship where Thor defeated Merrimac and Cyberknight to reach the Heavyweight Final. Thor was intended to battle The Master and Blendo here, although Blendo withdrew before the match, leading to the match seen in Heat D of Series 1. Thor also collected the Best Engineered Award at the event, which it shared with Blendo. Thor is still intact as of 2019, and is currently stored in the same workshop where the BattleBots competitor Kingpin was builthttps://battlebots.com/robot/kingpin-2019/. References External Links *Thor on the Ultimate Robot Archive Wikia *Thor Website (Archived) Category:1994-1997 US Robot Wars competitors Category:Robots with Spikes Category:Robots with Spiked Axes/Picks Category:Robots with Lifters Category:Robots from California